Abducted love
by Canaryarcher
Summary: What happens when Alexis Castle disappear? How far is Richard Castle willing to go to find his beloved daughter? Set around early season 5. Somewhat AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So... This is my very first fanfiction, which means I'll probably regret ever writing it. You need to start _somewhere_ right? I apologize for any mistakes (and also my existence for that matter).  
Thank you to my friend for editing and giving poor little me some good advice! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, but I do own a fluffy unicorn.**

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Alexis gathered her books, sorted her papers and put them in her file. It was almost eight thirty when she finally decided to leave the library nearby her school. College was tougher than she had expected, therefore forcing her to study on her own more than she had ever done before. Some days she returned to campus so late that she fell asleep in her bed right away, only to wake up the next day for more studying. If her dad knew how much effort she was putting into getting good grades, he would be worried. He loved her, she knew that, and that's why she didn't want him to waste his own time worrying about her.

The redheaded young woman walked out of the building, staring at her phone while texting her new boyfriend. Alexis tilted her head and chuckled while she read the last text he had left her. He was so sweet and caring, unlike other boys she knew. He was more of a cuddly guy who liked to take one step at a time. He also made excellent cappuccinos with way too much whipped cream on top. Alexis didn't feel as lonely as she used to when she started college, now that she could be in his company. It was different not to wake up to her dad's delicious pancakes at home.

A loud clattering behind her back made Alexis' heart thump louder in her chest. She inhaled heavily and held her breath while quickly turning around towards the noise. She couldn't see anything. Alexis hadn't even realized until now how freezing and dark it really was. She tried her best not to panic and started walking again, clutching the phone in her hand.

She froze when she heard it again. The clattering sound creeped her out, so she needed to know what it was. This time she actually focused on the source. It came from an alley not far from where she came. She almost screamed when something jumped out from the shadows and tossed itself onto a pile of old papers. It was just a lonely cat hunting some kind of prey. Alexis laughed at herself for being so paranoid.

The clicking noise appeared again. Now it was coming from the other side of the street, almost alongside her. A long shadow casted on the bumpy road was the only proof she needed. She wasn't sure what she was seeing, but the fact that it came closer was enough for her.

Alexis was almost panicking by now. She refrained from running, because she knew that if she did, she would give in to the fear and not be able to control herself anymore. Her basic human instincts would take over. It would be like letting the animal loose and never know when it would, or if it would at all, return.

Suddenly she snapped back to reality, realizing she still had her phone. Alexis wanted to call her dad, but that would just end one way; dozens of police cars searching for her. And for what? Just because she was slightly creeped out it didn't mean she needed him hovering behind her back all the time.

No. Not dad. But she could try to give Beckett a call. Detective Beckett was after all a real cop and on top of that a realist. Alexis could use some reality right now, and not a bunch of half-assed speculations or disturbing imaginations. Beckett was a strong woman that Alexis had looked up to ever since their first meeting. She could make her feel safe.

Alexis slowed down while searching for Beckett's number. She felt slightly more comfortable with the situation despite the chills she still got.

Something didn't feel right. There were no noises anywhere; everything was just deadly quiet. Almost like the old buildings and cranky, empty benches were holding their breath, waiting.

When she finally got around to dial Beckett's number, she heard it again. A constant, loud, and clicking noise, and it came closer.

"Come on Beckett, pick up!" she mumbled into the phone.

The sound grew louder. Alexis turned around only to see that someone really was following her. That was it. The instant electrical impulse bursting down her spine made her legs move faster and faster, until she was running down the sidewalk.

 _Oh God, Beckett, please pick up the damn phone already!_

The signals were still not going through. Her feet were moving so fast she barely knew where she was heading. Alexis could hardly hear anything else than her own racing heart and hysterical breathing. Her flaming red hair whipped her in the face, making it even harder to see than it already was. The thick, dark night hung over the big city like a heavy blanket. The only things you could see were the shadows sliding by the streetlights, only to disappear into the darkness again.

She took a sharp turn into an alley. By the time she realized it was a dead end, it was already too late. Now her only chance of getting away from the creep following her was to find a place to hide. To the left next to the fire escape she could see two big dumpsters overfilled with trash. She might be small enough to fit behind them; it was worth a try.

Alexis needed more oxygen after the run, but that could reveal her hiding place. She placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to force her body to calm down and not expose her. For a moment, when she couldn't hear anything at all, she actually thought she had just overreacted. She was wrong. The same clicking noise came closer again. Alexis tried her best to not start crying. She was terrified. Every possible worst-case scenario went through her mind, scaring her even more. Her shoulders started shaking when she heard the person walk by, possibly just a few feet away.

" _Detective Kate Beckett."_

Alexis had dropped her phone. It was lying on the ground right next to the dumpster she had climbed over. Her cover was blown, so she figured the only thing she could do was scream in order to alert Beckett. It was her only chance. Almost scared to death, Alexis took a deep breath.

A firm hand grabbed her from behind, making Alexis unable to do anything in defence. She was dragged out from her hiding place. The adrenaline kicked in and Alexis fought back. She struggled for all she was worth to get away, but the guy was too strong. She could barely breathe when he held his hand over her mouth, and even less scream for help. She fought desperately, digging her nails into his wrist, kicking back with her heels, even going far enough to bite down on the hand holding her. The man swore under his breath, and a well-placed punch left Alexis' ears ringing.

" _Hello?"_

Finally Beckett got tired of not getting an answer, so she hung up the phone. The lock screen turned black as the tires of the dark van screechedand disappeared into the shadows.

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 **I forgot to mention: I came up with this plot before watching S5E16 "Hunt", so you can imagine my disappointment. My fic is nothing compared to that plot. Please feel sorry for me and leave a review. I deserve it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back. The excitement drove me crazy I guess. So, I still apologize for any mistakes. I have a lot to learn since I'm a new writer _and_ a new Castle-fangirl. Therefore I really appreciate when you guys point things out and comment! Mistake is the best teacher.**

 **Thans to S for editing!**

 **(I rarely write dialogues, so let's see how this will turn out...)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Castle even if I wanted to.**

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"Detective Beckett"

"It's Castle, Kate. I'm sorry to bother you this late, but I'm worried about Alexis. She hasn't called, and she's not home yet. Please Kate, track her down for me, will ya? This is not like her. She always calls me before she gets here," Castle explained nervously.

"Castle, I get that you're worried about her, but she _is_ eighteen. Eventually everyone gets to the phase when they realize they don't have to share their entire life with someone else," she responded while giving Esposito and Ryan an angry look. "Besides, I've got work to do."

The two detectives were curiously listening to the call. When they realized that Beckett caught them staring they looked at each other and shrugged. It was not worth bothering Beckett, at least not this late when she was tired. Finally they left her alone with Castle on the phone.

"I know, Beckett, I know. I just can't get rid of this feeling that something's wrong," he replied with a slightly shaky voice.

Beckett thought he was overreacting again, which made her somewhat irritated. She knew that Castle wouldn't be able to sleep before he got some answers. Not that it was any of her concern for the moment, but she still felt a bit guilty if she didn't help him. Besides, a tired and nervous Castle was not someone she wanted to deal with in the morning.

Alexis was probably partying with her friends, and there was a possibility she was drunk too, which could explain why she wasn't home yet. Beckett knew Alexis wasn't the kind of girl who liked to drink, but she could've wanted to get away from all of the homework she got.

The same thought must have slipped through Castle's mind too. There was a chance Alexis would call tomorrow, having a hungover and probably be embarrassed about it too. She was after all a smart and good girl.

"Castle, I'll see what I can do. Don't wait up, though. She might have just forgotten to call you. And since there's a possibility that she's just drunk; I'm sure you've done worse things when you were her age," Beckett finally answered.

She could hear how a relieved sigh slipped through at the other side of the line.

"Thanks Kate. I really appreciate it," he mumbled with a slightly calmer voice. He didn't even comment on the insulting statement she just made.

"Yeah. Go to bed, Castle. I'll call if I find her"

Right after she hung up the phone, Esposito and Ryan walked up to her.

"So what did he want you to do this late then, huh?" Espo asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh shut up you two already!" she replied quickly, making sure they could feel the burning gaze she gave them. Maybe her reply was too fast, because she could see their suspiciousness grow. Beckett decided to change the subject as fast as possible.

"Alexis was supposed to come home an hour ago, which she didn't, and now Castle is freaking out. I suppose she's enjoying her college-life with some friends and forgot to call her overly-anxious dad. So he called me, and I promised to make a few calls. That might make him feel better. That's it. Now that you know everything you can go home. It's late boys, let's make it a day," she told the two detectives.

"Why the sudden urge to make Castle feel pleased?" Ryan asked, crossing his arms in a desperate attempt to look serious. The effect was somewhat ruined by his barely concealed laughter.

Esposito frowned at her, suggesting that they weren't going to drop this. There was too much childish joy in their eyes when they were teasing Beckett. At times she found it slightly endearing, but right now it was too much.

"Okay guys, drop it. Go home," she ordered sternly, making both of them flinch.

"Call if you need any help with your writer-boy slash partner!" Esposito shouted as the two of them walked towards the elevator.

Kate Beckett rolled her eyes while picking up the phone. Castle had probably called Martha already, so there was no point in doing that. He had possibly even called some of her friends, since he wouldn't call her unless there was nothing else he could do on his own. One thing she was sure he wasn't able to do without her help was to enable the GPS on Alexis' phone and track the signal, so she decided to start there.

While she was waiting for signal to get some answers, she saw Captain Gates coming towards her in the corner of her eye. Kate froze and tried not to look like she noticed. When Gates called her by first name, she knew it was over. Beckett sunk back into her chair and sighed, her back still turned towards Gates.

"Sir."

"Detective Kate Beckett, what are you still doing here?" Gates asked while her sharp and angry eyes scanned Kate's computer screen.

She didn't have time to close her research. Kate almost felt how annoyed Gates became when she saw what she was really doing.

"I could ask you the same, sir," she responded way too fast without thinking.

She immediately regretted saying it, but it was already too late. When Kate met her glare, Gates was, without joking, pissed off. She could see how her Captain slowly straightened her back and crossed her arms. This was bad.

 _Here it comes…_

"From what I understand, you are tracking down Alexis Castle's phone, so unless she's dead, you have no authority to do that! You are a homicide detective for God's sake!" she yelled angrily, nostrils flaring in pure fury.

"Alexis might be in trouble, so I needed to check on her," Kate mumbled as an explanation.

"Castle called you, didn't he?"

"Yes sir, he did, but…"

"He can file a missing person's report tomorrow if his daughter doesn't show up. If there is no evidence of a committed crime, then we don't have a case, understood? We are done here, detective. You are going home right now unless you want me to suspend you again!"

Captain Gates turned around, swinging her long and black hair around in a gesture of her victory.

Beckett knew there were no grounds for a suspension, but pissing Gates off was more than enough to get her back to reality. She had to go home.

Beckett packed her things as fast as she managed to. She tried to avoid thinking about it, but it was easier said than done. The guilt of thinking that she had let Castle down intruded. He asked for one important yet simple favour, and she wasn't able to fulfil that one task. She did understand why Gates acted like she did. It was her job to keep everything under control, and she couldn't let her employers use their resources at work for personal reasons. Beckett was fully capable of accepting that, but not the fact that Gates stopped her from finding out if Alexis really was okay. Not that. Ever.

 _There is just one thing I can do._

She had to drive over to his loft and hope for the best. Maybe Alexis was home already. Maybe everything was fine. Maybe Castle just forgot to call. Yeah. But she needed to be sure.

The rain poured down outside. It was like the sky was opening up and letting it all out with tremendous force. Becket ran as fast as she could to her car, but unfortunately the high heels she was wearing slowed her down.

Of course she had to fumble with the car keys right now. When she finally got into her car, she was already more than soaking wet. She felt how the heat intermixed with the moisture from her clothes. The irritating, itchy feeling made her mad.

" _What a crappy day…"_ she thought to herself.

Her hair was already hanging in curly stripes, plastered to her face, and lots of large water drops ran down her pointy cheekbones, smudging her make-up. She looked miserable and she knew it. Beckett really didn't want Castle to see her like this; ugly, upset and out of control, but she really owed him an explanation.

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 **Next chapter won't be up as fast as this one. I still have a few days left until I'm on vacation, but then...  
Reviews are welcome! Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here I am again folks! Alive and almost well. This chapter took way too long to write, and personally I didn't really like how it turned out, but _you_ get to judge that. I know that this whole Caskett-thing is strong right now in the real series, but I'm going with more...fluff. So deal with it.**

 **Thanks to S for dealing with my crap and editing this whole thing!**

 **Reviews are really appreciated! They really make my day.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.**

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Beckett got off the elevator and was walking towards Castle's door when suddenly, it didn't seem like such a great idea at all. It was late, and for all she knew he could be asleep already.

Okay, _fine_. She knew he wasn't, but her brain was coming up with excuses so she didn't have to go visit him. This whole relationship-thing was still new, and she needed to process it. All she really wanted right now was to be with him, but it didn't feel like the right time.

Beckett gasped and instinctively put her right hand on her gun when the door unexpectedly flew open. Castle almost stumbled into Kate, managed to avoid collision. There was a brief moment of complete silence, both of them staring at each other in confusion.

"Castle?" she asked, still with her hand on the gun.

"Beckett?" he replied, just as confused as she was.

When neither of them said a word she continued:

"Castle, what are you doing?"

"Um… You know, first of all, I live here. God, you scared me… Kate, I was going to come and check if you still were at the precinct. I have a feeling you wouldn't hesitate to shoot me right now, am I right?" he babbled faster than she thought he was capable of.

"And Beckett, what are _you_ doing here?" he continued when she still didn't say anything.

Detective Beckett finally realized what she was doing and let the gun slide back into the holster. She shook her head, took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Castle, but Gates kicked me out of the precinct. She didn't allow me to search for Alexis without getting suspended again. You know, it's not exactly legal to use the database for personal "investigations". So, I'm sorry about that. I did what I could," she said while staring down at the doorstep, too ashamed to meet his eyes.

She could almost feel the disappointment surrounding him like mist in the air.

"It's not your fault," Castle whispered and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Come on in," he said with a sad smile on his lips. He seemed to be tired.

She responded with a quick smirk, revealing how nervous she was. She had to think twice before she answered.

"I don't know Castle, I should probably go home tonight. It's late."

"Oh come on. You're freezing and wet, I can see that. At least take a shower and change your clothes: that's the least I can do. It was really nice of you to try get hold of Alexis. I know you had paperwork to do. Now please, come in," he begged.

Beckett tried to not laugh, but she let out a chuckle. Alexis wasn't home yet, Gates was mad at her and now Castle invited her in although it was the most inappropriate time. This whole situation was just absurd, but she convinced herself that she shouldn't care about that right now. Everything was more or less upside-down in her life, and it would take time to get comfortable. She just wanted to push aside all that and live. Beckett was in love with the man standing in front of her, and he loved her back. That's all that matters.

Castle looked pleased when she finally stepped inside.

"Since you were coming to the precinct I assume that Alexis hasn't called yet, am I right?" Beckett asked while taking off her soaking wet jacket.

"No she hasn't. But I was thinking that you might be right. She's living her own life now," he replied.

He started to pace around in the living room. He looked like he was thinking carefully about what to brow was furrowed in thought, eyes nervously flickering towards the windows. He bit his lip and rubbed his hands over the rough material of his jeans _,_ leaving slight smudges of sweat behind. He let out a shaky, forced laugh before continuing;

"Oh, don't look so surprised. I'm an expert on denying the fact that Alexis is growing up and that I can't always watch her back, no matter how badly I want to. However, I've realized that I just have to accept it. It will take some time, but I'm willing to work on it. I can't just walk around thinking I own her, but that doesn't mean I can drop my protective daddy-instincts," he explained while still walking around in the apartment with a somewhat sad expression on his face.

"Wow. Did you, of all people, just say that?!"

Beckett gave him a playful smile and added:

"You are really cute when you're thinking."

"Cute?" he asked himself while watching Beckett disappear into the bathroom.

" _Cute_? Really Beckett?!" he shouted after her.

"You sound so offended! Now, were you going to give me some clothes or not?" Beckett shouted back.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a sec!"

 _Where the hell was he supposed to find her clothes that would fit her slim body?_

Alexis didn't have that much of her clothes left at home, just some old superhero t-shirts and a couple of way too short sweatpants. He didn't think Beckett would be too amused about wearing pants that ended just below her knees. After digging through his own wardrobe he found an oversized hoodie with his name on the back and a pair of cosy grey pants. They had to be good enough.

He decided to leave the clothes just inside the bathroom, giving Beckett some privacy. He really struggled with his own thoughts, trying not to think about her standing in his shower. Castle simply couldn't break the bond they were building by invading her personal space without permission. He respected her, and he wasn't going to change that.

He closed his eyes and gently opened the door. He could feel the hot steam swirling around his face. Just a glimpse. He dropped the clothes on the floor, fully aware that the love of his life was only a few steps away.

 _I am not looking._

He closed the door behind him and let out a relieved sigh. He stood outside the bathroom with his back against the door, trying to gather his thoughts. His mind was in a swirl of emotions. Love was such a confusing and challenging thing to deal with.

 _I have completed the mission._

"Hey Castel, I know you're there," Beckett shouted from the other side of the door, making Castle jump. His glorious imaginations about a slightly excessive lightsabre-fight between him and his feelings were recklessly interrupted.

"I got your clothes for you!" he shouted back, hoping she didn't start questioning him.

Half an hour later Beckett appeared in the doorway to the living room. She found Castle sitting on the sofa, writing on his laptop, or whatever he was up to. She could see the focus in his eyes.

"Hey, we're gonna find her, you know," Beckett mumbled softly.

He finally looked up and met her eyes. Beckett had difficulties interpreting his look. She wasn't sure if he was worried or sad, or maybe both. Normally she would've joked about it, but somehow she didn't find it appropriate at the moment.

"I know."

Neither of them said a word after that. Kate just crawled up next to him and fell asleep in his arms.

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 **I'm on vacation now, so let's hope the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was...**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back with a chapter from Alexis' point of view! Yey, right!?**

 **I apologize for any mistakes. I kind of enjoyed writing this chapter, though I did confuse myself a couple of times. If you find anything odd/weird/out of place, it's just me being fuzzy...**

 **Thanks to my dear writing-buddy for editing again!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing these adorable characters.**

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Alexis slowly opened her eyes. She tried to blink, but she still couldn't see anything. It was so obscure that she barely could see her legs. Alexis tried to crawl up on her feet, but was forced to sit down because of the headache striking. It came down like an explosive attack on her frontal lobe. Every time the blood flow reached her head she gasped for air. It made her head hammer in a constant grimacedand rubbed her temples, desperately trying to get rid of the insufferable pain.

Then her memories slowly started to return. She was supposed to go home for the weekend. Her dad had promised her to make dinner, and then they were supposed to have a Star Wars marathon in the living room with tons of ice cream. Alexis refused at first, trying to explain that she'd rather do something more… mature.

"Alexis, you can't just let the dark side win!" Castle had answered in despair.

After a moment of not so serious arguing on the phone, she had accepted his offer. Her dad tried so hard to sound offended, but he really didn't have to. Alexis didn't want to admit it, but deep down she really missed those moments alone with her dad. Why should she give up her inner-child just because she was growing older? Maybe it was because she didn't want to end up like Richard. Being stuck with the boyish personality that drove everyone crazy didn't really strike her as a good idea. She was certain about one thing though; her dad wanted her to be happy, and he knew what she _really_ wanted, because he knew her better that anyone else the entire world.

Alexis gasped for air when the headache viciously made itself known again. She was forcefully pulled back to reality when she again started to receive flashbacks from the evening.

Running. She was running. Someone was following her.

 _Oh God._

That guy had grabbed her and dragged her to the van. She had tried her best to get away.

 _He must have knocked me out…_

Alexis sobbed silently when she realized what actually happened. She pulled her knees up under her cheek in a desperate attempt to get comfort and closure. Her hair covered her pale face. She tugged at a stray hair before clasping her hands together in an effort to stop shaking. She gritted her teeth until they started hurting, forcing herself to breath loudly through her nose. This whole situation just felt so unreal.

She had to stay calm. She needed to gather the facts. Focusing on what she knew would be a great start. At least it would keep her busy thinking about something else than the fact that she didn't know where she was or why.

Alexis took a deep breath and looked up. It was indeed dark, but she could still make out contours of something that looked like wooden boxes. She crawled around in the room to try finding out as much as possible about the place where she was held. Someone obviously put her here for a reason. Alexis was sure that this was a very real and authentic abduction, so she needed to keep calm. She had after all no idea what or whom she was dealing with.

The floor was cold and filthy, like nobody had been here in a long time. She scratched her knee while crawling around, but it didn't really matter at this point. The room seemed to be empty, except for the boxes in the middle and an old mattress placed in a corner. It was a dusty and ragged one, but it was at least a better option than the chilly floor. Alexis found a blanket thrown in the corner. It smelled like the rotten piece of chicken her dad had forgotten in his office for a few days. She didn't even question it.

She sat down on the mattress, but left the blanket where it was. She'd rather freeze than wrap herself in that disgusting piece of cloth. Alexis had to gather all that she knew. So, she had been kidnapped. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized what kind of trouble she really was in. She was held in a very dark room with a mattress and some wooden boxes that she still didn't know what contained. It was chilly and there were no windows. There was a possibility that she was held underground. The floor and the walls were most likely made of concrete, which could explain why she couldn't hear much. Just her own swift breathing that creeped her out. Alexis was alone. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had been missing. There really wasn't much to go on.

One odd thing bothered her. She was unable to find a door. Not even a single crack on the walls was she able to find. Then how on earth did she get here?

 _No. Stop it. You're gonna survive this. Now breathe and focus._

She was still alive. That was a good sign. If they really wanted her dead, they could've just killed her in that alley Maybe they wanted a ransom. Maybe they knew her dad had money? She could be out of here in no time, because she knew Richard Castle would do _anything_ to keep her safe. Her dad, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito would find her. They were the best crime-solving team in NYPD. They just never give up on something. Alexis needed to hang on to that thought. The redheaded girl needed hope.

" _Hope. That's what keeps us alive, sweetie"_

Her dad used to say that to her when she was a little girl and her teddy was missing.

" _That's what makes people do things they didn't even know was possible"_

" _Like building a space ship?"_ five-year-old Alexis asked.

" _Yeah, exactly,"_ her dad answered with a laugh.

A loud thud made Alexis freeze. The memories of her childhood burst like a bubble. She was so scared that she held her breath without noticing. A tear trickled down her cheek. Why was this happening to her? A bright square of light appeared on the floor a few feet away. When she looked up she finally understood why she couldn't find a door. There was just a small hatch about nine feet over her head. Someone was about to come down, and there was no escape.

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 **So, school starts again on monday. I have no idea whether my writing will be left aside or if I'll be able to write even more than I have so far... I have absolutely _no idea_. I'll definitely keep on writing though, that's for sure!**


	5. Chapter 5

**School started again, but I'm back. Everything is still kinda upside-down, but as fast as I get back to my usual routine I'll be able to update more frequently. This chapter was written in a hurry, so it's not that well-thought-out.**

 **Thanks to S for editing despite everything else you've got going on right now!**

 **Thanks to all guest-reviewers for making my day!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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Chapter 5 (Sigh. Here we go again. Don't get me wrong; I like writing but I suck at keeping my deadline.)

"Beckett!"

Kate Beckett groaned and twisted around before rubbing her eyes. She blinked rapidly, forcing her sleep-addled brain to start working again in order to figure out what was going on.

"You're gonna be late unless you wake up."

That soft voice of his. Castle.

 _Wait, what?_ _Castle?_

"Beckett, do you copy?" he whispered, trying to sound like he was talking to her through a walkie-talkie. Always making fun of the situation whether it was appropriate or not.

Everything just fell into place. Beckett was still lying on Castle's sofa since last night, now also aware of the pain in her back from the crappy sleeping position. Her hair was dangling in her face and she was a total mess. When she turned her head towards Castle's voice she was met by a cup of coffee pushed under her nose.

"Alexis?" she asked.

"No sign of her yet," he answered with a dismayed voice while handing her the cup.

Beckett could clearly see that he'd been up all night. His eyes were slightly pink, and did seem a bit distant. No matter how many times he told her that he was fine, the permanent frown upon his face spoke differently. Beckett didn't feel like questioning him right now. She had to get down to the precinct as fast as possible, so there was really no time for arguing.

"We need to go now," she mumbled mostly to herself.

"I'll buy you some coffee on the way instead," he replied.

They decided not to make the chemistry between them too obvious at the precinct, especially to Gates, so they got out of the elevator with a delay between them. Ryan and Espo seemed to be busy with paperwork, so they didn't even notice their arrival. Castle had been kind enough to buy coffee for the boys too, so he slammed down the cups on Ryan's desk, making sure he noticed them.

"Castle! Hey man, have you heard from Alexis yet?" detective Ryan asked while handing the other cup to Esposito.

"No, so we really need to find her, whether Gates is in on this or not," Beckett answered in Castle's place.

Both detectives nodded, thanking Castle for the coffee and turned their heads towards Beckett, waiting for an order.

"I really didn't find out anything of value yesterday, so if you guys check her phone records – _Oh_ ,"

"What? Beckett, what?" Castle asked and stared her in the eyes.

"I got a phone call yesterday around the time you said Alexis was supposed to come home. Nobody answered on the other line when I picked up – kinda in the middle of my paperwork – so I just assumed that it was someone pranking me," she explained quickly and Casrle's face fell.

Ryan finally broke the awkward silence.

"Espo, we'll trace that phone call and see if it has anything to do with Alexis."

"Thanks guys," Castle called after them. He got a pat on the back, but it didn't really make him feel any better. He was sweating and tapping his fingers on Beckett's desk, desperately trying to calm down.

 _How could she not have noticed if it was Alexis calling? Why didn't she have Alexis' number in her phone?! And what in the world could be so important Alexis wouldn't call me first?_

"Are you okay?" Beckett whispered behind his back. She sounded very concerned.

"No."

"Good. You shouldn't be okay with this. Now do what you do best and come up with a crazy plot," Beckett filled in and sneakily took his hand, making sure no one saw them.

Castle wasn't in the mood of coming up with a story involving his daughter missing, but he knew they had nothing to go on.

"Well, she was supposed to come home by eleven. She called me in the morning, saying she was going to study before coming home. She also made sure I wouldn't forget to buy the ice cream for our movie-night. She didn't turn up."

"Oh come on Castle, you can do better than that. Where does she usually study?"

Beckett gently rubbed his hand trying to calm him down. She didn't like seeing him this apprehensive.

"Alexis likes to just be in her own room studying, or in the lecture hall at school. Sometimes she studies in the library because she likes the soothing silence

"Good. Then we'll start there," she replied with a smile and started to tap on the keyboard.

Esposito interrupted her research by walking up to her desk with such a serious look on his face that Castle wasn't sure he wanted to hear what he had to say. The nervous tapping on Beckett's desk grew faster. Becket reached over and covered his hand with her own in order to stop the tapping. He managed to stay still for a second before fidgeting in his seat, his leg starting to agitatedly bounce under the table. Becket sent him a vaguely exasperated look but refrained from commenting.

"Tory traced the call. It really was Alexis, and the GPS is still on."

"What's with the serious face then? We know where she is!" Castle exclaimed.

"That's the thing," Espo answered, making both Beckett and Castle terrified of finding out where she was.

The three of them walked into the room where Ryan and Tory already were. Ryan paced back and forth and gave Tory a nervous look when the rest of the team entered the room. Tory cleared her throat and glanced at Beckett to get permission to talk.

"Show them what you just showed us," Espo ordered Tory.

"So, you can see the campus and school over here, and over here we have her apartment. You see this alley over here? According to her GPS she should be about three blocks from the library right _here,_ " Tory explained whilst zooming in and out on a satellite map, looking Castle in the eyes every so often to be sure he followed.

"What you're saying is that she's in that alley three blocks in the opposite direction from where she was supposed to go?" Beckett asked.

"Yes. And she's not moving around, so we really don't know what to expect of this situation."

Castle opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't come up with anything. Everyone in the room was looking at him, all of them with sadness and pity in their eyes.

 _What the hell is going on? Where is my baby girl?!_


	6. Chapter 6

**People, I'm back from the dead! I'm really sorry for not updating. I've been so busy with school, and I still have tests left. I promise that I will finish this story, I just don't know when and how fast.**

 **Well, we are off hiatus at least!**

 **It's still my lovely friend S who keeps editing. This chapter was written over a long period, so it didn't turn out as expected, but well...whatever.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own a castle. I don't own Castle either.**

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Ryan and Esposito parked the blood red car on the sidewalk, gave each other a look without saying anything. They could see the alley from where they were standing. Espo started walking towards the lane with Ryan right behind him.

"Don't you think they're making a bit of a big deal out of this?" Ryan asked worriedly while checking the GPS signal.

"Yeah, but let's just make sure Alexis is okay," Esposito answered without turning around.

"Yeah. It should be just around the corner," Ryan informed him.

The two detectives were expecting to find Alexis asleep against the crunchy-looking grey walls, but they couldn't see anyone at all at first sight. They stopped walking while Ryan checked the GPS again.

"Man, it has to be here. Let's search the area."

They looked behind dumpsters and trash, only to find a chubby rat eating rotten leftovers in the dark. It didn't seem like anybody had been here for a long while. Esposito even checked the fire escape just to be sure, but they had no luck there either.

"What now?"

Ryan was sweaty and already breathing heavily from all the running back and forth in the alley. A homeless guy with an overgrown dark beard almost scared him to death once. Apart from that guy they didn't find anybody else.

"Dude, I've got something!" Esposito suddenly shouted. "I think I found her phone."

"Javi, where is she?!" Ryan shouted back while jogging to where his partner was standing.

Esposito didn't answer. He just picked up his phone and dialled Beckett's number as fast as he could. After a few signals she picked up. Before he got out a single word she exclaimed:

"Espo, please tell me she's okay."

"Kate, Alexis is not here," he replied. "We just found the phone, but she's not here."

" _What?_ What do you mean she's not there? She must be. I don't think she would just drop her phone in an alley like that. Are you sure? Where's Ryan? Is he sure about this?"

"Yes we are. Get CSU down here to check for prints or tracks. It's highly unlikely that they will find anything, but we need everything we can get. Her phone is here but we haven't touched it. Like it or not, but I'm starting to feel like she's been taken."

"I…I don't know what to tell Castle, or if I should tell him at all. I don't even know what we really know. I need to inform Gates right away. Check if you can find any witnesses. I'll have Tory to take a look at traffic cam footage."

Beckett hung up before Esposito had a chance to reply. He just stood there, staring at the phone on the ground that belonged to Alexis, partly hidden under the black dumpster. He could see a few drops of dried blood a few feet away.

"Well, we can at least be sure that she was here."

Ryan stood next to the phone, holding up a piece of fiery red hair. He looked just as concerned as Esposito, but they didn't say anything. It just felt like an absurd situation that nobody wanted to say a word about. They just wanted to repress it and pretend it wasn't happening.

It didn't take long for the crime scene unit to get there. They instantly started to take pictures of everything that had any value, and marked it for testing. There wasn't much to do for the two detectives, so they tried to check with the neighbours. They quickly came to the conclusion that none of the neighbours had seen anything. It was too dark, and most of them had a poor view of the alley.

Esposito cursed under his breath. Ryan tried to figure out if they had missed something. He wanted them to have something to go on, but they had been more thorough than they needed to. CSU should come back with a report in one day. They only delivered fast answers if it was urgent, and in this case they really didn't know what was going on. Ryan wasn't even sure that Gates would approve of contacting CSU for a situation like this.

"Espo, do we even have the authority to do this kind of an investigation?"

"I dunno, but you know that Beckett and Castle would do it anyway. They won't care about Gates' opinion. They would run around and figure it out by themselves, just without proper resources. This way we can at least help them to get a hintof what's going on"

"Excuse me, sir! What are you doing here?"

An old lady with curly hair was staring at the detectives. She was a lot shorter than both of them, so neither of them had noticed her approach. She was carrying a shorthaired Chihuahua who started barking at them with a high-pitched tone.

"Um…I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't be here," Ryan politely replied.

"Oh. Miss Etiennette and I were just thinking that it had to do something with the girl."

Both of the detectives gave each other a look, and were suddenly very alert.

"What girl? Did she have long red hair? Did you see her?" Ryan asked.

"Yes. She was running in there," the old lady pointed towards the unit of investigators standing next to the dumpster. "And then this man came after her!"

"So you saw the whole thing? Did you see the man's face? And where can we find this Eti…whatever?" Esposito asked. This was exactly what they needed.

" _Miss_ Etiennette. She didn't like it. We were just walking by when the van stopped by the sidewalk. We couldn't see anything after that."

The dog calmed down, but continued to glare at Esposito.

"Espo, it's the _dog_ ," Ryan tried to whisper. Esposito gave him an _are-you-serious-_ look before turning his attention to the lady again.

"Ma'am, you and Miss Eti…"

"Etiennette, yes."

"Yeah… You'll have to come down to the precinct to answer some questions. Do you mind doing it right away?"

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 **Reviews are more than welcome. Until next time! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I have risen from the dead! Again. (I seem to die quite often...)**

 **I'm really sorry for the delay... School's taking all of my time right now. It feels like all I do is study and sleep.**

 **Here's a chapter from Alexis' point of view again. It didn't really take that long to write it, since I was mad at myself for not writing and sort of just came up with... _something_. It's really not the best chapter, but I hope you'll enjoy reading it anyway. :)**

 **Thanks S once again for editing! (I seriously don't know how you can put up with me...)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Alexis jerked awake, almost hurling her head in the thick wall. She got scared for the first seconds because she couldn't see, but she quickly realized it was because it was pitch-black in the room. First she didn't even know where she was, exactly like last time, but this time it didn't take her forever to figure it out. She hated not knowing whether it was day or night. She was somewhat hungry and sleepy, so she decided to go with night.

The basket of food remained untouched exactly where her kidnapper had left it. Alexis didn't dare to eat any of it, despite the fact that she was both hungry and thirsty and it smelled delicious. The guy had loweredthe food through the hatch. She was utterly terrified he'd kill or rape her by then, but he had just payed her a passing glance **.**

" _Don't take it personal,"_ he had said before slamming the hatch and locking it. The light had died out pretty quickly after that.

Alexis hated the fact that she hadn't even gotten a glimpse of his face. All she really knew was that he had a prosthetic leg, and that's why she had heard the strange clicking noise when she was being followed. She had kicked him hard enough to realize the leg wasn't made of meat and bone; ironically she had hurt herself more than the kidnapper. She was pretty sure there were two of them too, since the van couldn't have just magically appeared and blocked the alley while she had tried to escape.

Her back was itching and sore from lying down on the freezing cold and hard mattress. There had to be some kind of ventilation in the room, because she could still breathe without any problem. That was something to be thankful of at least. Nobody had really considered that she had to go to the bathroom too, and the need grew stronger every minute.

Even though she'd slept for a while she was tired. That created a problem, because she simply had to stay concentrated all the time. No matter how badly she wanted to forget _everything_ , she couldn't allow herself to do that. Alexis had to gather as many facts and details as possible.

Now she _really_ had to go to the bathroom. There was nothing else to do than scream.

"WHAT IS IT?" the guy shouted back at her from above, banging the hatch against the ceiling harder than expected.

Alexis jumped and crawled away from the visible spot of light.

"I need to use the bathroom!" she yelled, her voice all cracked and trembling.

After a tense moment of silence a rope ladder was slowly hoisted down. Alexis was still sitting on the floor shaking like a leaf and unsure about if she would be able to climb up. She didn't really have that much energy left.

"Get up," he commanded.

Alexis' eyes weren't used to the sharp light. To be able to see anything at all she had to squint with her eyes. She crawled to the ladder and took a firm grip around the coarse rope. The whole room started to spin and she lost her balance for a second. She took a deep breath before placing her foot at the lowest ladder and pulled herself from the floor. The hunger, exhaustion and fear decided that this was an ideal moment to catch up with her, making the room tip to the side and her head churn. Alexis swallowed against the nausea and forced her shaking arms to reach for the next ladder and climb upwards, vertigo be damned **.**

The instant she got up they (she could be certain there were two persons now) grabbed her and forced a black sackover her head. _Typical._ She'd hoped to get some more clues about where she was hold, but nope, they were too cautious. They dragged her along the floor, and she was too scared she'd stumble, so she tried her best to walk on her own feet despite the fact that she was _blindfolded_.

Neither of them said a single weave of the sack allowed a small amount of light to sipper in, and she desperately tried to see something through the texture. She managed to make out a few movements around her thanks to the shadowed light, but the weave was too thick to be anywhere _near_ transparent. Alexis felt like screaming. The silence, only punctuated by her own rasped breathing and the awkward shuffle of her feet against the floor, was broken when they abruptly stopped walking. Someone fumbled with a door handle and a gruff voice told her to do _no funny stuff now, or you'll regret it_.

Alexis was almost thrown into the bathroom. She lost her balance completely and fell, hoping that she wouldn't hit anything. Hope didn't do her any good. Her arm smashed against the sink and she cried out in pain. Tumbling to the floor, she desperately tried to get the stuffy sack off with one hand. Her left arm was warm and she could feel the pain pulsate throughout the arm.

"Make it quick!" one of them shouted from the other side of the door. They really didn't sound that patient.

When she finally got out of there they made sure to threaten her so she wouldn't trick them. Alexis found this odd, because since when should the kidnapper be scared of the victim? Sure, she could try to run, blindfolded, but they would easily catch her. These guys were scared that they'd be exposed, therefore Alexis came to the conclusion that they weren't exactly professionals.

Alexis was forced to sit down on a chair instead of going back to the bunker. She got surprised and started to get nervous again. She held her hands in her knee, trying to cover how much they were shaking. The air was thick and warm inside the sack, barely breathable. Even though her ears felt blocked and she couldn't really hear anything else than her own blood pulsing through her body, she managed to listen to the conversation a few feet away.

"Detective. You know why I'm calling. I want you to be on the following address in two hours _alone._ Three million, cash. Nobody else, you know how it works. If I as much as see a glimpse of another cop I will _not_ hesitate to shoot her."

"Insurance? Well, a deal's a deal."

Alexis heard him closing up. This was her only chance. As soon as he gave her permission to talk by pushing her shoulder she shouted as fast as she could:

" _Prosthetic leg!_ "

She heard the phone drop to the floor and the crunching sound of a shoe smashing through a the sound of a loading gun and a pissed off, heavy breathing kidnapper entered the picture, she squeezed her eyes together and silently begged for her life.

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 **Yep. Don't question my imagination. Or then do so if you like, by leaving a review!**


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